IT wasn’t a particularly unusual order, or so celebrity chef Catherine Fulvio thought. She stopped off at her local shop one January evening to buy some fresh veg for a mid-week family stirfry, but was assailed by a tinfoil egg mountain.

DARINA ALLEN is enjoying herself. For once, the beating heart of Ballymaloe Cookery School is taking a little time off to smell the roses.

Joe McNamee looks at some recently-released cookery books

Chef Catherine Fulvio’s Ballyknocken House is very tempting, says Pól Ó Conghaile